Trade resumed where it left off at the second and final session of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale on Wednesday.

Despite there not being any six-figure lots business continued to be brisk throughout the day. At the close of business the sale posted a minor increase in the aggregate from a slightly larger catalogue than in 2022 to €12,517,000 while the average grew 3% to €31,060. The median improved slightly more by 8% to €28,000 while the clearance rate fell from 90% last year to 85%.

Wooded colt

With Wootton Bassett carrying all before him it is no surprise to see the first crop of yearlings by his Group 1 winning son Wooded proving popular in the sales ring. John Foley’s Ballyvolane Stud, who has enjoyed significant success at this sale in the past, offered a son of Wooded and he was well rewarded when the colt sold to an on-line bid of €88,000 from Robson Aguiar. It was a rewarding transaction for Foley who had bought the son of Orayda for €15,000 as a ‘short yearling’ in Goffs only seven months ago.

“I really wanted to buy one by the sire and I got him for €15,000 in February,” Foley said. “He was a good-moving foal, a bit weak, and I thought there was a chance he might grow into a nice horse. He has thrived, really thickened out, and most people who saw him said that he was one of the better physicals here and that he stood out a little bit.

"He has been very popular. This has been a lucky sale for us. We sold Sir Busker here and last year we sold a nice horse called Fast Society to Kennet Valley and he has run twice and won in September.”

Foley was also keen to deflect plenty of credit to his team, both at home and at the sales, and added: “I have a very good team of three at home, they are all working hard. My head man Conor Ryan had a leg in this colt and he will be chuffed. They are all great people and they try their best every day. I also have had a great team here at the sale – with such good people here and at home it makes it much easier. We are trying to sell nice horses and it is great for all when it comes off.”

Teme Valley

Bloodstock agent and Teme Valley Racing advisor Richard Ryan wasn’t present at the sale but that did not stop him buying one of the highest priced lots when he secured Lot 439 via Matt Houldsworth for €82,000.

Consigned by Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud on behalf of her grandfather Jim Bolger, the Teofilo colt has a high class pedigree being out of the winning mare Slaney East, herself a half-sister to the brilliant miler Poetic Flare and a full-sister to stakes winner Glamorous Approach.

Speaking remotely, Richard Ryan said: “The colt came highly recommended by his breeder and I have seen plenty of footage of him. He is a physical doppelganger of a horse by the sire we had previously named Gear Up. Teofilo is a top sire and this horse has a classic page. He has been bought for a successful partnership and will remain in Ireland.”

Blue Point colt

Another offering to benefit from his sire’s exploits this year was a son of leading first season sire Blue Point, consigned by that stallion’s breeder Oak Lodge & Springfield House Stud.

Out of the Speightstown mare Platinum Coast the colt was bought by Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock for €78,000 and will be aimed at a breeze-up sale next spring.

“He is going breezing and has been bought for a new breeze-up syndicate,” revealed Biggs. “Charlie and Francesca Poste, who have done point-to-pointers so well, are diversifying. We bought three yesterday and might buy one more. This colt is by a very good stallion in Blue Point, the pedigree is a bit light but if he breezes fast I am sure he will turn a profit,” he added.

Soon after another UK based breeze-up operator, Mark Grant, struck for a Sioux Nation colt offered by Gerry Burke’s Glidawn Stud. Grant was pushed to €80,000 to secure the half-brother to four winners from the family of Goldikova and afterwards said: “When you like them you have to buy them. You can wait for other sales and not buy and then think, 'why did I not buy earlier?”

This was Grant’s fourth purchase so far and he added: “He was my pick of the sale and the sire is flying. I think he has got plenty in him, he looks like a Tattersalls Craven prospect. We’ll get him home, break him and turn him out for a few weeks.”

Dungarvan-based vendor Gerry Burke also bred this horse out of Princess Severus and commented: “I loved Sioux Nation, he has had a fantastic year and we were lucky to come upon him at the right point. This is a nice colt, there were some really good judges on him and he has gone to a really good man in Mark Grant. I hope he is very lucky for him, that’s the most important thing. The breeze-up consignors buy a lot of horses and they put a great floor to the trade.”

Pinhooking touch

Ken and Peter Parkhill’s Castletown Quarry Stud hit a pinhooking home run when selling a Belardo colt to Robin O’Ryan and Richard Fahey for €80,000. Lot 391 had been bought at the February Sale in Goffs for just €6,500 and while he obviously bloomed physically in the meantime he also benefited from a timely update when his half-brother Gunfighter, the dam’s first runner, broke his maiden for Hugo Palmer earlier this month.

“He was a lovely foal and turned into a good yearling,” Peter Parkhill said. “He has been very simple all the way. We are only 20 minutes over the road so we try and keep it simple. We have always been very lucky here, with the NH horses especially, we like this place.”

Having successfully pinhooked a Teofilo colt from 21,000gns to €70,000 on Tuesday, Parkhill summed up: “We’ve had as good a week as we’ve had in a long time.”

Gleeson brothers

The Gleeson brothers, Michael and Laurence, of Aughamore Stud are also making a name for themselves as shrewd operators and they did well out of a Make Believe colt. Knocked down to Amanda Skiffington for €75,000, the half-brother to three winners from the family of stakes winners Know It All and Astrophysical Jet showed a healthy return on his €17,000 foal price from last year.

Italian investors have long been important participants in this sale and Lot 461 looks destined for Italy after Razza Latina successfully bid €80,000 for Tally-Ho Stud’s son of Earthlight. The buyers’ interest was no doubt piqued by the exploits of the colt’s half-sister Suicide Squad, a stakes winning juvenile in Italy in 2020.

Recent top-class displays from Moyglare Stakes and May Hill Stakes heroines Fallen Angel and Darnation will ensure yearlings by Too Darn Hot command a second look from prospective buyers this autumn and the first of two yearlings catalogued by the Darley stallion sold well when knocked down to breeze-up specialist Johnny Hassett for €72,000.

Offered by the Smurfit family’s Forenaghts Stud, the colt is the first produce out of the winning Slade Power mare Moment Of Silence and hails from the brilliant family of Nightime, Ghaiyyath and Zhukova.

“I loved him, he has a bit of quality to him,” Johnny Hassett said. “He looks the type to improve further and is a work in progress. Eventually I think he will have a lot of substance and the bet is, that by May, he will be there. I liked the Too Darn Hots and this horse will decide which breeze-up sale he will get to.”

Rated 94 at her peak after only five runs as a juvenile for Godolphin, Moment Of Silence was bought by Forenaghts Stud for 95,000gns at Newmarket last year with this colt in-utero. The farm’s manager Caoimhe Doherty was delighted with the sale and said: "The sire has really clicked lately and has had an incredible two or three weeks. This colt is a lovely horse, very straightforward, a great walker and he vetted well. We are delighted with the price, the mare has basically paid for herself, and I am so pleased for Sharon and Tony Smurfit who bred him. I thought he'd stand out at this sale with the pedigree, and I didn’t think there would be too many here by Too Darn Hot. We have been well paid for him and we are thrilled.”

Part 2 of the sale takes place on Thursday.